Ophelia Hollway
This is a real case study by one of our lawyers. The person who is in charge of this area in the firm is Ophelia Hollway. Ophelia is a Senior Associate and LIV Accredited Criminal Law Specialist at Doogue + George. She has defended a wide range of allegations including sexual offences, drug offences, corporate crime, and driving matters, and served as instructing solicitor in the Coronial Inquest into the Death of Kumanjayi Walker.
View full profile →This is a case study on a bail application for Breach CCO.
What is alleged to have occured?
Our client was charged with Theft and Assault which breached a Community Corrections Order. He also had a lengthy prior history relating to dishonesty offences and several convictions for failure to appear and breaching corrections orders. The prosecution strongly opposed bail on the basis that our client was at an unacceptable risk of failing to appear on bail and at risk of reoffending.
What happened at court?
We represented the client at the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court for the bail application.
Submissions were made on the client’s behalf and pointed to the client’s excellent performance on his recent Community Corrections Order. We had contacted the client’s Corrections officer who said that the client would be able to continue on his CCO order if he was released on bail.
We also pointed out that the likely delay caused by contesting the assault charge, combined with the minor value of the theft, meant that the client could be spending longer time in custody than he might ultimately serve on a sentence. His family was also able to provide a modest surety.
What was the result?
His Honour found that the client had shown compelling reasons and was not an unacceptable risk, despite his problematic history. The bail application for Breach CCO was granted. It was an excellent result especially for the client.
Elements of Breach CCO:
- The accused is subject to a Community Correction Order;
- The accused breached the order; and
- The accused had no reasonable excuse for breaching the order.
Related case studies
DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. The sentence imposed and the charge have not been altered. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes and give an indication of possible tariffs in Court. We do not guarantee a similar case on these charges will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes. PUBLISHED 30/10/2018
